A Knife In The Dark
by louithewombat
Summary: Serenity was just a young girl. A young girl with a terrible taste for men... When her first love turns out to be a killer, and is visited by Lucien Lachance, he puts a sleeping spell on her. Leading to a terrible vivid nightmare that's stayed with her. They never thought they'd meet again. ROMANCE, ADVENTURE AND SO MUCH FLUFF


The first time he laid eyes on her, was when he'd stood quietly in her bedroom doorway. She lay sleeping, next to Brynn Mareno, whom had finally won over the girl - several times. Lucien frowned slightly. Such an innocent creature. She hadn't the slightest idea... That she was adreaming next to a young man who had suffocated his last love interest in her own family home. But it waa that cold-hearted, skilled murderer that he had come to recruit. The Night Mother had been pleased with Brynn's... Recreational activities. Lucien had no qualms about carrying out her will. But what to do about the girl? He silently strode over to her, and cast a quick sleeping spell. She wouldn't wake up now, and he wouldn't have to kill her. Usually Lucien wouldn't show this sort of compassion - he had no idea what he was doing. It was just something about her expression as she slept. Hopeful. Serene...

Lucien shook his head. He was here for a reason. He stood at Brynn's side.

"You sleep rather soundly, for a murderer." Brynn snapped his eyes open. He stared wildly, shocked.

"Who are you?! What... What are you doing here?" he quietly said, barely able to speak.

"Lucien, Lucien Lachance. Speaker for the Dark Brotherhood."

Serenity lay sleeping. Her blissful, innocent dream about her childhood home quickly turned into a nightmare. She fell into a bottomless void, that felt mind-numbingly real. Her body tried to wake her up, but it had no effect. She was, for all intensive purposes, stuck. Suddenly, she heard a voice. One she couldn't recognise.

"You sleep rather soundly, for a murderer." The voice echoed and bounced around the void. She thought she heard a familiar voice, but she couldn't be sure.

She called out, "Who are you?", hearing the own panic in her voice as it sounded around her.

The voice returned after what felt like an eternity, like a rumbling of thunder through the deafening silence.

"Lucien, Lucien Lachance. Speaker for the Dark Brotherhood."

She sat up with a start, breathing heavily, saturated with sweat. the first rays of dawn peeked under the heavy curtains. She turned, to see an empty bed beside her. "That's weird." she said to herself. Perhaps Brynn had already woken up. She didn't really feel too concerned. She would see him soon, and could tell him all about her dream.

She never did.

* * *

_Five years later..._

The guard of Anvil looked for Brynn for sometime. They searched, searched and searched - to no avail. Despite Serenity's pleading, they gave up. They concluded that he must have stowed away on one of the ships frequenting the port, for people did not just "go missing" and not turn up dead. Serenity never got over it. She thought he was her first love, she thought he was his. How could he just leave like that? The grief of his disappearance soon faded, and she was left with the vivid dream she had on the night he left. It felt so real, she could almost feel as though she was falling again whenever she thought about it. Serenity's parents kicked her out of home when she was 17, only one year after her love vanished. They said they couldn't afford to support her and her younger brothers any longer, and she would have to make do on her own. After all, she was a Breton of High Rock. If anything, she could get through this.

They were wrong. Serenity lived in poverty for days, that turned into weeks, that turned into months. Her father, who was a Captain, taught her how to fight. She was also taught a little restoration magic, for when a fight turned against her. This knowledge proved useful when she was forced to join a group of Bandits. She was brought into the fold when she had attempt to cut the purse of a Bandit visiting town for supplies. He caught her, and then proceeded to bring his dagger up to her throat. She fought back with incredible strength, heavily bruising the bandit's face and removing an ear. In a plead for his life, he offered to take her to his camp - where she could make money with them, robbing merchants and travelers.

She hardly had an option. She joined the Bandits and ran with them for years. Until they were slaughtered while attempting to rob the Hero of Kvatch. She barely escaped with her life and a small cut on her jaw that would later scar. She swore revenge, that she would track down this "hero", and make them pay for what they did to her friends... Her family.

In the dead of night, she removed her armour to remain silent. Only in a burlap shirt and leather pants, she crept around a dim Anvil corner, hilt of her dagger in hand. It was in those shadows, that Lucien watched. The Night-Mother had spoken once again. And so he was here, observing her every move, every frosty breath that materialised in misty tendrils from her lips, every flinch at the slightest sound. Her dark brown hair reflecting the moon light... Her sensual frame as it edged along the wall. He caught his heart beating ever-so slightly faster. The more he focused on her, the faster it beat. He gave himself a small pinch. He was being an idiot - he was here on the job.

She found her target - a black Khajiit. Dar'ja was well known as a dealer in secrets that ran with the Khajiit caravan. He left a loud and bustling tavern, and began his long lonely walk back to the caravan. Serenity had been watching him for days, she knew the route he took each night - he never changed. She knew how drunk and unaware he would be. And she knew that he was walking towards her. In one fluid movement, she placed one strong hand over his jaw, lifted his head and plunged her dagger into his throat. As the last wheeze of breath escaped from his body, she dragged him back, wiped the blood from her blade onto her clothes, and walked away. Barely flustered.

Lucien had found the right woman.


End file.
